Stats

Lifespan: Perennial
Size: Medium
Diet: Photosynthetic
Biome: Freshwater wetland
Range: Worldwide
Movement: Sessile
Breeding: Seeds
Defense: Herd Safety
Status: Common

About

The broadleaf cattail is an iconic wetland plant instantly recognised by its velvety brown, sausage-shaped seed head. A single seed head can release up to 300,000 wind-borne seeds, making it one of the most prolific colonisers of marshes, pond margins, and roadside ditches.

Life cycle

1.
seed
A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2.
sprout
A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3.
sapling
A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4.
mature
Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Tracheophyta
Class: Liliopsida
Order: Poales
Family: Typhaceae
Genus: Typha
Species: Typha latifolia